The Great Outdoors
by Emily Henson
Summary: But Charlieeee I don't WANT to go camping." "I know Averman, you have told me this twenty-seven times..." Sequel to Truth or Dare and The Morning After
1. Chapter 1

"But Charlieeee I don't WANT to go camping."

I know Averman; you have told me this twenty-seven times. That's not counting the fifteen times yesterday or the forty-three times the day before."

"Gay men don't camp," said Averman stubbornly.

"Oh shut up you big fairy," said his boyfriend Luis cheerfully, Luis loved camping.

"I swear to God if I get so much as ONE mosquito bite-"

"Averman, shut up. You're going to get one, I promise. Just please put a cork in it," asked Adam. Adam was also big on camping.

Charlie sighed. They were only fifteen minutes into the trip and he already wanted to break out the aspirin. He was beginning to wonder why he had suggested camping, but then he remembered the mess they'd cleaned up the last time they'd been drinking at his house, and decided it was for the best. After all, he was positive everyone had alcohol in their bag or on their person.

The ratio of campers to non-campers on this trip wasn't so bad. Luis, Adam, Fulton and Charlie were pretty big fans. Averman, Julie, and Jesse hated it. (But don't ask Charlie why they were still coming, because he sure has hell didn't know) Portman, Guy, Ken, Goldberg and Russ didn't mind it and Connie's only problem was that she was afraid of the dark. Charlie wasn't worried about her though, she would tough it out.

Julie however, was not a roughing it kind of girl, but thankfully she wasn't usually a real whiner either. Averman took the cake, ice cream and milkshake as far as whining went, and Charlie wasn't sure where Jesse would fall.

Speaking of whining, Charlie began wondering how the hell he ended up in the van with Averman? Surely he'd had his share of torture the night everyone slept over at his house right? He decided he'd steal someone's seat in one of the other vans during the restroom stop that Averman was about to complain for.

Thinking ahead Charlie began planning the sleeping arrangements. He was NOT going to end up with Averman this time. They had three tents so there would be a decent amount of sleeping space. Averman and Luis would obviously want to share. Julie and Portman had a messy relationship and they were currently on the rocks so they would not want to be together. Connie had already informed everyone that both Guy and Adam (her best friend) were staying in a tent with her to protect her from the dark. Charlie figured all the non-campers should go in one tent, plus Luis and Ken who were the least likely to lose patience with them. For minimal nighttime disruptions Charlie decided he would snag a tent with Connie, Guy and Adam since he was sure Adam and Guy would sleep through the night and Connie would be too scared to get up and go to the bathroom.

-- an hour (ish) later--

"Fulton?"

"Can we pull over, I have to go potty?"

I knew it, thought Charlie.

"Anyone else?" asked Fulton. Jesse and Luis nodded.

"Okay, give the other vans a call Jesse and tell them to pull over at the next gas station."

The Ducks had opted to stick together during the drive to prevent anyone from getting lost. Dwayne for one was horrible with directions.

"Oooh! Snacks!" said Jesse cheerfully.

Now is my chance to escape, thought Charlie. He snagged Dwayne's spot on one of the other vans and bribed Adam with first dibs at breakfast to get him to drive away before Dwayne returned. Charlie knew Dwayne might get him back some how but at least he was Averman-free for an hour and a half. Perhaps he could get a jump-start on making up for all the sleep he was bound to miss out on the next few days.

The scramble for sleeping arrangements began as soon as the tents were pitched. It did end up pretty much as Charlie thought it would. Julie and Portman headed for separate tents, Connie dragged Adam and Guy to a tent and Charlie hastily followed them. Luis and Julie were pretty good friends, so he went with her and Averman followed. Ken roomed with Portman at Eden Hall sophomore year and wanted to put as much distance between Portman's smelly socks and himself as possible. Jesse too was familiar with the smell of Portman's feet, and knew that Julie would make sure her tent didn't reek; this left Portman, Fulton, Russ and Dwayne in the remaining tent. Everyone was relatively pleased except Goldberg who had not managed to escape the smell of Portman's feet. Charlie for one could not believe his luck- he had somehow managed to evade Averman's nagging, Portman's feet and Dwayne's snoring.

Now that sleep arrangements were sorted out…

"I'M HUNGRY!" cried Portman obnoxiously.

"What is it with you? Is that your mantra?"

"Okay, who wants to cook dinner?"

-Silence-

"Nose goes!" yelled Adam.

Julie lost and grumbled at Portman when he handed her the pan and ramen noodles.

"Oh quit your whining Julie, all you have to do is boil water."

"Then why don't YOU do it?"

"Eh, can't be bothered."

She walked away cursing him under her breath.

No sooner had they finished eating when Jesse announced cheerfully. "Happy hour is from eight to dawn!"

"To dawn? You're going to die of alcohol poisoning."

"Wrong, I know when to quit," argued Jesse.

"Wrong," muttered Fulton. Before Jesse had even cracked open the bottle Connie snatched it.

"Wrong again," said Fulton, grabbing it from her.

"What? I'm not the one who passed out last time!"

"Yeah but you are the one who spilled your guts."

"Yeah, and you spilled a lot of stuff I could have gone without knowing."

"So we're not going to drink? Then what was the point of coming out here?"

"We are going to, you two are going to be monitored though."

Connie didn't say anything, she figured she could count on them being too sloshed to "monitor" after a while.

They all decided they were too tired to mess around with games, and didn't want to use all the liquor on the first night, so the night turned into a reminiscing one.

"Remember that time we quacked at the principal?" mumbled Jesse.

"Yeah, haha, that was great. Even though I'm pretty sure I got carpal tunnel from writing 'I will not quack at the principal.' Ten thousand times."

"Even better, remember when Coach Stansson chased Portman for three blocks after he caught him egging his car?"

"Yeah!"

"And he never caught me! Not that I was worried…"

"Right."

"Of course not," said Fulton sarcastically. "He knew it was you, he just didn't have any proof or he probably would have had us disqualified."

"And then you wouldn't be here because we would have killed you," finished Dwayne.

Portman looked thoughtful for a moment, shrugged as though he thought that was reasonable, raised his beer and said "Cheers."

By this time it was well past midnight and the Ducks were sleepy. Connie was the first to go but dragged Guy and Adam with her, Julie made Ken and Luis check their tent for bugs before she would go in it and Goldberg put Gold Bond foot powder in Portman's shoes.

When Charlie headed over to his tent he heard Averman whispering in his "quiet voice" inquiring where the nearest Wendy's was. He chuckled, and upon entering his tent was quite pleased to find that Connie and Adam were already sleeping, and that Adam, who wasn't even a bad snorer, even had the decency to put a Breathe Right strip over the bridge of his nose. It was a gesture Charlie greatly appreciated.

"You don't plan on getting up for anything during the night, do you Charlie?" asked Guy. "If Connie gets freaked out we'll all be up."

Charlie had no objections to sleeping through the night, so he agreed not to get up and cause any disturbance unless absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, since Charlie has THE WORST they only got about four hours of decent sleep before Connie shot up in her air mattress screaming in terror.

Dean Portman, known for pranking but not for being particularly bright, had missed the memo that Connie was terrified of the dark. As a funny joke he'd decided to shake the tents and growl. Since no one else was awake there was no one to let him know how bad this idea was. He did stop when he heard her screaming like that, but the damage was done. Guy was storming out of the tent to yell at Portman while Connie hyperventilated into Adam's shoulder and he patted her back soothingly.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Me? What's wrong with her is a better question!"

"She's afraid of the dark you asshole and now she's not going to be able to sleep again because she'll be too freaked out. And you know what that means? Adam and I won't be sleeping either. Now go and apologize before I kick your ass."

By this time all the yelling had woken everyone and some were stumbling out of their tents.

"What the hell is with the shouting?"

"What time is it?"

"Four fucking thirty," cursed Fulton.

"Portman had a great idea, he decided to scare us by shaking the tent, and scared the shit out of Connie."

"Shit!" cried Portman suddenly from the inside of Connie's tent. This was followed by a burst of laughter from Adam. Everyone saw the tent lurch to one side as though someone had fallen against it. Portman left the tent with a slightly swollen eye. Adam stepped out as well, although he could barely walk from laughing so hard.

"Connie punched him."

Portman marched angrily back to his tent while his teammates laughed at him.

"Is she alright?" asked Ken.

"Yeah, she's had her revenge."

"Part of it!" yelled Connie from inside the tent.

"Okay… part of it. See you guys in the morning."

The Ducks bid each other goodnight and returned to their sleeping bags. Connie was furious at Portman for scaring her and making her look like a baby. She was determined to get him back.

--

I told you there was going to be another sequel! :D Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Charlie, you like sleep right?" asked Connie the next morning.

"Yes actually, I happen to immensely enjoy it, which is why I don't know how I am friends with you people since I never seem to get any of it when you all are around."

"Well whose fault was that last night?"

"Grr, Don't remind me."

"Are you interested in revenge."

"Absolutely."

"Excellent." Connie whispered her idea into Charlie's ear and he considered it with interest.

"Okay, but I have a couple of questions."

"Shoot."

"One, are you sure he will sleep through all of this?"

"Are you kidding? He was totally zonked the whole car ride here! He even slept through the whole van sing-along to Queen's greatest hits."

"Jesus Christ, I'm jealous. How does he DO that?"

"I know right? I wish I could…" Connie grumbled half to herself. "Anything else?"

"Yes, have you enlisted others? The two of us can't carry him by ourselves."

"Of course I've got others. Guy and Adam want revenge too, and Fulton is helping as well because he thinks it's funny and he never quite got Portman back for super gluing his favorite lucky underpants to Dean Buckley's Lexus."

"Hah, you have to applaud him for that one."

"True but he could have used his own underpants."

"True, Fulton was pretty ticked, he had been planning to wear those throughout the playoffs for good luck."

"What?! He was going to wear the same underpants for a few WEEKS?!"

"… Yeah, and?"

Connie gave him a completely revolted look. "That is absolutely disgusting. I am so glad I am a girl. Anyways, everyone is actually in on it so that anyone waking up from the noise and freaking out won't get us busted. So what do you think, oh ye of little faith?"

"You are an evil mastermind."

"Why thank you. Operation Velvet Hammer Revenge begins tonight at one-fifteen, we have to give him time to get into deep sleep."

…

"Christ he is heavy, who feeds him?"

"I do! He loves my bacon and eggs, not my fault."

"Shut up Charlie! We can't wake him now we're almost there!"

Charlie was never going to make fun of Connie's love for Disney movies ever again. The Parent Trap inspired her to drag Portman's air mattress to the lake and send him afloat. She had predicted correctly that the move from the tent to the lake would not disturb his slumber, he was dead to the world. Had he not been snoring Charlie would think he was actually dead.

"I feel like we're getting rid of a dead body," whispered Guy.

"If he wasn't such a great defenseman we WOULD be getting rid of a body now," replied Connie.

"True story."

With a final heave they got him into deep enough water to keep the mattress floating, and Connie got the honor of pushing it out into the water. Charlie for one felt extremely satisfied watching Portman drift away. Connie mirrored his expression and Guy, Adam, and Fulton were struggling not to laugh too loudly.

"I gotta hand it to you Connie, this is pretty great," said Fulton, patting her on the shoulder. "This just about makes up for him stealing my boxers."

"You weren't really going to wear them during the entire playoffs were you?"

"Yes! I've done it every year since I first joined the Ducks!"

Connie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit."

"Enough underpants talk, let's turn in."

"Agreed."

Charlie checked his watch, it read one forty-five. He wasn't too bothered. If he slept until eleven-ish that would make for a decent nine hours of sleep, he'd take that."

With their mission complete the pranksters returned to their tents and crashed. They awoke at ten A.M feeling refreshed and to the smell of bacon cooking.

"Well this is pleasantly surprising," remarked Luis. "What puts you in such a good mood?"

"A good nights sleep, that's what. The fact that Captain Portman is still out at sea and not about to make port anytime soon only makes it better."

"So I take it Operation Velvet Hammer Revenge went off without a hitch?"

"Correct, now we're just waiting for him to wake up."

As if on cue those who were awake, which was only the mattress carriers and Luis at the moment, heard a loud string of profanities and a splash. Charlie was laughing so hard his stomach ached and Connie was literally laying down and pounding her fist on the ground. Guy was pretty sure he had cracked a rib. Everyone was still cracking up ten minutes later when Portman reached the small beach, dragging his mattress and sleeping bag behind him.

"I hate all of you," he mumbled grumpily as he walked to his tent to change. That of course only set off their laughing again.

"You can laugh now but I WILL get you back sometime."

"What are you going to do Admiral Portman, send a fleet of floating camping equipment after us?"

"Har har you're a riot Germaine."

"He can do whatever he wants," interjected Connie. "I am content for now. If he gets me again I'll watch my Disney movies again."

To make amends (and to make sure he wasn't on the receiving end of any more pranks from Portman) Charlie served him a heaping plate of bacon and eggs. Portman ate his breakfast with a look that suggested he was deep in thought, which Charlie found incredibly unsettling.

"Oh come on guys! This is all in good fun and games right?"

"Shut up Charlie," said Russ, emerging from his tent. "You just don't want to be pranked. Man up!"

Charlie grumbled something about "false accusations" and finished serving breakfast.

"You know Charlie, if playing pro hockey doesn't work out for you, there's always the option of opening your own bed and breakfast," teased Luis.

"Yeah man, I'll get you in contact with my parents, they know the restaurant business."

"Um too bad a bed and breakfast falls more under the hotel business Goldie."

"Did I ask for your opinion Cowboy? What do you know about the hotel business anyway? Who was it who had to reimburse Orion because he confused the "continental" breakfast with "complimentary" breakfast and ordered everyone room service?"

"… that could have happened to anyone."

"Yeah right."

"I'll clean up the dishes Charlie."

"Thank you Ken, I appreciate it. You know, I get no respect around here."

"Cork it Conway."

"You know what Russ? No dinner for you!"

"No mommy anything but that!"

The team snickered at him and Charlie became more miffed.

"I fail to see what can be so amusing about childish remarks."

"You really sound like Casey now Charlie."

"I hate you all," grumbled Charlie.

"So… what do we do now?" asked Jesse.

"Swimming?" suggested Guy.

"Chicken fights!" yelled Julie.

"You are so going down Gaffney."

"I would heed that warning Julie, we've all seen Connie and Guy in action," said Jesse.

"EWWWWWW!"

"Shut up Averman, you know what I meant."

"Um, no what if I don't?"

"If I meant what your little pervert mind is thinking then I would have phrased it 'We've all seen Connie and Guy GETTING action-"

"Which we've also all seen," muttered Fulton.

"Unfortunately," finished Dwayne.

"Hey, no comments from the peanut gallery," said Jesse. "As I was saying, Connie and Guy are undefeated at chicken fights, end of story."

"Ain't that the truth," agreed Goldberg.

"And that's about to change. You game Connie?"

"You know it Julie."

The two girls shook hands with devious challenging looks on their faces.

"Is it wrong that even though I grew up with Connie in a sisterly fashion I find that bad girl smirk of hers incredibly sexy?" asked Adam out of earshot of Connie.

"No man, Connie's always been a babe," whispered Charlie. He clapped Guy on the shoulder and said, "You are one lucky man Germaine."

"Believe me Charlie, no one knows it better then me. Alright Cons suit up, we've got a chicken fight to win." He whacked her butt and they went to change.

"Is he going to get dressed with her? Perv," said Dwayne.

Julie rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Dwayne, he's her boyfriend, besides its nothing he hasn't seen before."

"Besides," began Averman, ready to burst into giggles. "Maybe a quickie before the fight helps them." He was nearly in tears of mirth by the time he got that out, and so was Charlie. His were tears of sorrow though.

"Answer me this," interrupted Fulton. "Why is it that Connie and Guy's sex life always gets brought up in discussions? It really has to stop, I just ate."

"Agreed."

"So Julie, whom do you choose to partner you in your quest for domination?" inquired Portman. He was secretly hoping Julie would pick him; he wanted to get back on her good side.

"Would we get to share a locker room with you?" joked Adam. Julie rolled her eyes and Portman shot him a glare that did not go unnoticed by Ken. He begged God to help Portman keep his temper in check; he did not want a repeat of their last argument at Charlie's house.

"Hmm… you know what, I've got it."

_pleasepleasepleaseplease_ begged Portman silently.

"Goldberg," (Portman cursed inwardly) "as my fellow goalie will you accompany me on my mission?"

"I would be delighted to Miss Gaffney, let's do this." Julie and Goldberg high-fived and went to their respective tents. Guy and Connie walked to the lake discussing strategy while everyone else weighed Julie and Goldberg's odds.

"Not a chance," declared Adam definitively. "Connie is ruthless and Guy is steady."

"Connie is quite vicious," agreed Portman. "Remember two weeks ago at Mason Hollman's barbecue when she pulled Mary Geiger down by her hair?"

"That was intense," added Russ. "The game had barely begun and she grabbed a chunk of that long blonde hair and yanked the hell out of it."

"Yeah…" began Ken. "About that, it was partially because Portman and Mary were flirting big time and Julie was pissed. Connie was helping Julie mark her territory because Julie was too timid."

"Julie? Our Julie? Catlady, timid?" asked Russ doubtfully.

"She overheard Mary make a comment to Jenna Harper earlier that she looked 'like a total chubbs' in her bikini" he said, using air quotes to emphasize Mary's words. "Why do you think Julie and Connie disappeared and Connie came back without Julie and with a murderous look in her eyes."

"Which was also sexy," interjected Adam.

"You know how Julie is sensitive about the size of her thighs even though they are all muscle?"

"No," answered Luis. "We didn't know that, but continue."

"Jesus Ken how do you know this?"

"I actually knew that too, Connie asked me to drive Julie home and I wrestled at explanation out of her, I never would have known if Connie hadn't told me though," said Adam.

"It was easy," said Ken. "You guys just aren't very observant. I overheard Mary say that to Jenna, saw Julie run inside and grab Connie on the way and I inferred the rest. And we all know that Connie doesn't take any bullshit from anyone, let alone a complete moron who once asked Adam how to spell "probably," so she took the problem into her own hands."

"Probably? Really?"

"Oh yeah, and then she ran her hand up my thigh in the middle of freakin' English as a 'thank you'. I can't even tell you how awkward that was." Adam shivered at the mere memory.

"So basically I'm an idiot and that's why Julie has been so mad at me?" asked Portman.

"Yep," replied Ken. "Everyone knows you have a fat crush on Julie. Everyone also knows Mary Geiger likes you, and she's been putting Julie down since the beginning of sophomore year anyways because Jack Kerkoven dumped her for Julie."

"Dude, Julie could snap Mary Geiger in half."

"Most definitely," agreed Luis.

"Connie almost did snap Geiger's neck that night," said Russ.

"I'm so glad I'm not a girl, their fights are vicious and ruthless," said Averman.

"We're starting guys, if you want to see our victory that's going down in history!" called Julie from the lake.

When the team approached the lake they saw the competitors were in the water and ready to begin.

"Charlie," called Guy. "As captain will you be our announcer and unbiased referee?"

"I'd be honored Guy. Ladies and gentleman, what we have here today is a once in a lifetime occurrence. Two people who should know better are challenging the undefeated champions of chicken fighting. First I'll introduce the defending champs, Ms. Connie Moreau and Mr. Guy Germaine!"

Guy rolled his eyes; sometimes he forgot how much of a cheeseball Charlie could be. Connie played along and waved her hands, blowing kisses to the "fans." Adam mimed catching one, held his hand to his heart and pretended to faint. Well Adam is assistant captain; it only makes sense for him to be assistant cheeseball, thought Guy.

"And now let me present the challengers! Here they are, Ms. Julie Gaffney and Mr. Greg Goldberg!"

Goldberg held Julie's arm up and the audience cheered.

"Now for the rules." Julie raised her eyebrows at Charlie as he pondered what rules to instate. "No eye gouging, and I'm talking to you specifically Moreau with your history of violent behavior. Any funny business and it's the locker room for you, got it?"

Connie saluted to show her agreement and Charlie clapped his hands together in acknowledgement. "Alright competitors, assume the position."

"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" yelled Russ.

The fight was delayed a couple of minutes due to uncontrollable laughter from the competitors and audience.

"Okay, now that everyone is ready to act his or her age," Charlie paused to glare at Russ who smiled cheekily. "We are ready to begin!"

Connie and Julie climbed onto their partners' shoulders and Guy and Goldberg turned to face each other.

"On the count of three ladies, one, two, three, FIGHT!"


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Yeah yeah yeah it's been awhile. That tends to happen when I write, it's erratic. Well here's an update now! Review please? It would be awesome and much appreciated.

Chapter Three.

Julie lunged for Connie's shoulder's to try and topple her off balance, but before Julie could latch on Guy stepped to the right a little bit Connie grabbed Julie's upper right arm with her left hand, twisted Julie sideways and roughly pulled her forward. She finished Julie off with a hard shove on her back as she was pulling her forward. It happened so fast that it took Julie a second to realize she was back in the water.

"Holy hell, how did you DO that?"

"I'm a badass motherfucker."

"Damn girl you don't need to tell us twice!" said Russ.

"While Charlie spends all of his free time thinking up hockey plays, Connie and Guy strategize about chicken fight plays."

"I want a rematch!" demanded Julie. Now I know what to expect and I'll get you this time!"

Connie smiled sweetly at Julie and replied, "Whatever you say honey."

"Oh God, this is going to get ugly," said Ken, ever perceptive to the behavior of women.

"Wrong," argued Fulton. "This is going to get hot!"

"You'll see," answered Ken. Fulton shrugged and turned to watch the entertainment. Julie whispered what they presumed to be a plan in Goldberg's ear and he nodded and helped her onto his shoulders.

The two pairs stood about ten feet away from each other and when Charlie said go Goldberg rushed toward Connie with as much speed as he could muster in waist deep water. Guy held their ground until Julie and Goldberg were about in arms reach and then pivoted out of the way while Connie grabbed Julie's shoulders and shoved Goldberg's shoulder with her foot to help his momentum as she pulled Julie backwards. As before, it had all happened quickly and seamlessly. Connie, whose hair wasn't even wet yet held her braid in front of her eyes as if she was examining her hair for split ends. Julie punched the water in irritation and yelled "God damn it!"

"Not good," mumbled Ken.

"Three out of five Moreau, let's go!" yelled Julie. A few eyebrows raised, none higher then Connie's as she shrugged and said "Okay."

Julie's chest was heaving with her deep breaths from trying to calm herself. The pairs got ready again and in a surprisingly aggressive move Julie grabbed onto Connie's neck and pulled hard. Despite being obviously shocked Connie did not topple over, but grabbed Julie's arm and twisted it awkwardly behind her back until Julie was forced to release her neck and cried out in pain. Guy tried to step away so to put some distance between the girls but Connie held on tight until Julie released her neck to make sure her arm didn't dislocate. Both girls slid off their respective partners shoulders and approached each other fuming.

"Are you insane?" Julie yelled at Connie. "You almost broke my fucking arm!"

"I'm insane? You're the psycho who tried to choke me! I was just trying not to die! That was a dirty move Gaffney!" screamed Connie, storming out of the water.

"I'll show you a dirty move!" yelled Julie as she shocked everyone by tackling Connie to the ground. The boys were too shocked to move at first; Ken reacted first, having seen something like this coming since Julie's first loss.

"Separate those two!"

Guy tried to extract Connie from the fight but was impeded by an unintentional kick to the balls from Julie. He collapsed back into the water in pain. Ken and Luis had grabbed Julie, figuring she couldn't fight off both of them, but when they finally got her off Connie she gave one last swift kick and her foot connected with the side of Connie's face. Connie, who had been in a kneeling position, keeled over backwards from the force of the hard kick.

"Connie!" yelled Adam, who ran to her side and tired to help her stand, the former was a bit disoriented, and Adam had to catch her when she staggered to the side. Adam picked her up and carried her quickly back to the tent as Guy slowly followed, trying to put his pain out of mind. Connie's head was leaning against Adam's shoulders, her eyes closed and blood trickling out of her nose. No one said anything for a minute until Jesse sat down and put his head in between his knees.

"Blood. Ugh, I feel sick."

"Dude… you play hockey."

"I know, I always close my eyes and pretend its not real."

Julie sat down because and put her head between her knees too, she was not sick from the blood, but hyperventilating because of the shock. She had let her anger get the best of her, but she had never really wanted to hurt Connie. She began to cry earnestly.

The guys didn't know what to do, here they were with two girls they had never seen shed a tear before crying; they were unequipped to deal with this. Portman took a deep breath and sat by Julie, stroking her back. She was taking deep breaths to calm herself and leaned into him for comfort.

"I can't believe I hurt her."

"It will be okay Julie, accidents happen."

"This was all my fault! If I wasn't so stupid and competitive this wouldn't have happened!"

"Connie is pretty stupid and competitive herself, you'd have to be to be a girl hockey player!"

"She'll hate me forever."

"No she won't Julie, you guys are best friends."

"I don't know where you learned about friendship," huffed Julie rudely. "Because you seemed to have missed a few crucial lessons. Best friends don't kick their best friends in the face and break their noses! What if I ruined her pretty face!"

"She'll be fine Julie," assured Guy approaching them from the campsite. "Adam popped her nose back into place."

"That's disgusting," commented Jesse.

"Actually he fixed mine once too," said Fulton. "I'll have to ask him to teach me how he does that. Great skill for a hockey player, even if it's kind of gross to watch."

"Really? She'll be okay?" asked Julie.

"Yep," answered Guy. "Her nose is back into place. She's just taking a nap because the nose-fixing process gave her a headache."

"Are you sure it wasn't the face-kicking incident that gave her the headache?" asked Averman.

Julie's eyes water again, the rest of the team shot Averman a look of disbelief and Russ shoved him off of the small dock he had been standing on into the lake.

"Forgive him," asked Luis. "He's not rude, just an idiot."

About an hour later Connie woke up and her and Julie hugged and made up. Ken was shocked that there wasn't any remaining tension and proud of Julie and Connie for putting it behind them.

"This calls for a drink!" exclaimed Jesse.

"…"

"Excuse me? Jesse, it's 1:00 in the afternoon."

"Hey. Its five o'clock somewhere!"

"That somewhere is not here buddy, you are not getting drunk before we've even had lunch!"

"Fine, we'll start after lunch!"

"No! Your poorly concealed alcoholism is starting to concern me!"

"Hey now, I am NOT an alcoholic! Can't a brother enjoy a beer once in a while!"

"Sure, after five and no earlier!" replied Charlie.

Jesse begrudgingly conceded to wait until five and Goldberg proclaimed it was lunchtime and fixed everyone deli sandwiches. As he enjoyed a delicious BLT, Charlie observed his friends on their trip, pleased that everyone was having a good time. Julie and Connie were laying out by the lake together, trying to soak up some sun. Nearby, Ken was constructing a collection on Star Wars themed sand creations and putting the finishing touches on an impressive replica of Luke Skywalker's uncle's house on Tatooine. Over by the trees Averman was trying to pet a squirrel and Luis was trying to talk him out of it. Goldberg and Dwayne were partaking in a sandwich-eating contest to see who could scarf three BLTs faster, overseen by Jesse with a stopwatch. An environmentally conscious Guy Germaine was picking up everyone's trash and putting it by the car so they wouldn't forget it, while Adam sat down underneath a tree with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Back by the trees he saw Fulton discreetly burying what looked like a pair of old socks and was puzzled until he looked over by Portman's tent, where the latter's lucky socks were no longer placed inside his sneakers. Charlie nodded at Fulton in approval. Just then Dean Portman sniffed his shoes with a bewildered look on his face, and upon turning them over and seeing foot powder fall out, through the shoe at Goldberg's head, causing him to choke on his last sandwich and Dwayne to win the contest. Charlie chuckled to himself as he listened to Goldberg argue for a rematch and realized that even though he sometimes wanted to hit them, h wouldn't have his best friends any other way.


End file.
